After visiting Borrowdale YHA my daughter decided she would like to go with a couple of friends at Easter so went to book a Private room and was stunned to see that instead of £35 it goes up to £99 and £129 if on the Fri Sat blatant profiteering at the expense of people that can only get away at school holiday time. Sent an email to YHA and got this usual corporate response 🙁
So much for the ethos of Youth Hostelling
Hi Richard,
Thanks for getting in touch. Our Revenue Team reviews the rates of our hostels on a regular basis, taking into account factors such as demand, competition and value for money along with ever increasing costs such as utilities, staffing and the ongoing maintenance of the YHA estate. In order for YHA to be around for many years to come it is essential that we take steps such as flexible pricing to become a financially sustainable organisation.
Flexible pricing means that we are now able to provide beds from as little as £8 per night, with private rooms from £29 per night, but we acknowledge this also means that when demand is high, the prices may be increased. To offset this, we regularly offer discounts of up to 50% when booking via one of our Flash Sales or promotions. These offers often cover peak periods such as the school holidays and weekends, ensuring that no customer type is disadvantaged by the period of availability.
It is hugely important to us that we continue offer our customers realistic, competitive & affordable prices, whilst taking into account the costs associated with operating a large, diverse network of hostels, ensuring that YHA remain a viable option for all, and continue to be so for many generations to come.
Thanks
The YHA Team
Feel free to leave a message
It’s supply and demand and they had to change the model to survive.
the solution your going to get if any is its 75 quid all year round.
as someone whos married to a teacher and has to pay the extra if i want to go anywhere with my wife im struggling to get worked up about it.
I understand peak supply and demand.
they have to try and keep occupancy up across the board while maintaining affordability.
as they say one method is - charge more at peak and less as quiet times.
now if only we applied that philosophy to the road tax system and charged people who contribute to rush hour chaos more for the privilege.
understand your frustration, 400% from base price to high peak does make you wince
surely the choice is that the cost is kept low and you are just unable to book during school holidays due to demand, or as said above, they close
I can understand a increase say £15 on top of the £35 but looking at the people using the YOUTH hostel 2 weeks ago it was more like your middle class taking over the bloody place coming in to rough it for the weekend!
Problem these days you don't need to be a member to stay at the YHA
Would member-only bookings at peak periods with a smaller price hike be a solution, e.g. £50 for Easter, members only? Might encourage more memberships, rewards those that have joined?
indeed but I think its something to do with Charitable status they cannot charge non members more but they can give a £3 off for members but thats not per person thats only applicable for one person booking
You want to go to a prime hostel at a busy time, if it was cheaper it would already be full. YHA need to keep the lights on which means balancing price and affordability
YHA do regular offers c 25% if you get the mailshots, hostel pricing is all over the shop so you need to be diligent checking what is available, done a weekend for two in Grasmere for £60, three nights for three in a en suite room for £100 at Pen y pass at half term
Either get less selective or dig deeper
Also check out the independent hostels
The member discount is for all people booked, I get it for the kids every time
The YHA has been middle class for decades, and they will be members as they use the discount
So much for the ethos of Youth Hostelling
Changed, like a lot of things. Count yer lucky stars- there were no private rooms in hostels back when I were a kid. And you weren't allowed on the premises during the day. And you had to help out with chores. Hotel facilities, hotel price strategies.
Rich, I see it the other way round. Holiday time, they charge those rates and they're full. That pays for the upkeep. All other times they struggle to get punters. They have to cut prices to get anybody in to cover the running costs.
I might be wrong, maybe the YHA directors spend most of the year holed up with Cy, CFH and Murdoch on Necker dining on endangered species, swigging champagne and mocking us plebs. Or not.
P.S. fully paid up YHA and Labour Party member.
It's much the sayme with The Caravan Club old chap. *said with posh poncy voice*
I checked some prices out the other day & were dearer in school holiday time, bloody rip off merchants.
YHA has been careful to make sure that the cheap bed in a dorm with self catering facilities in areas of natural beauty has been maintained . I still see plenty of people taking that up.
I wasn't going to get involved with this but here goes
I might be wrong, maybe the YHA directors spend most of the year holed up with Cy, CFH and Murdoch on Necker dining on endangered species, swigging champagne and mocking us plebs. Or not.
No they are very nice normal people based in Matlock just trying to do the best with a unique organisation and some very unique properties. They don't have shareholders and the money goes back into the buildings or helping kids get out.
So my limited knowledge on this was about 5 years ago YHA had some serious issues, theses were
A brand and proposition that didn't connect with its target audience (Youth) it's main customers were older people, most people had forgotten about YHA or didn't know what it was
Tired infrastructure and old buildings with expensive upkeep
A few key Hostels (London) etc were proping up the rest of hostels
Unable to compete on price as was it's traditional proposition (Travel lodges etc at £30 for a room were as cheap and newer, cleaner better equipped etc)
I think the choice was change or sell off a load of properties
So they had to change and they from what I've seen they've done a pretty good job of it.
It's meant pricing changes, focus on location, experience and facilities rather than just competing on being 'cheap'
They modernised a lot of the buildings
And they still do all the good work of getting under privileges kids out into the country, run school groups etc. which Travelodge won't do (alongside trying to keep the buildings going)
They still get it wrong though if you book well in advance you can still get YHA Ambleside for cheap on Fred Whitton weekend.
I worked with them for over 3 years and I saw nothing but good people always trying to do the right thing, they had to make some difficult choices and this included pricing choices.
It's a good organisation, not a corporate and from what i saw it deserves some support.
Have you trie4d the Derwen****er indy hostel (Barrow House) along the road Rich? they have private rooms with 6 beds too.
No problem with a bit of demand pricing to keep the bills paid. Love the YHA, would hate to see it go under or contract further. Remember the Scouts and Guides have activity centres too which can be rented for group get togethers and are in some top locations.
Borrow dale has always been an expensive hostel. It .is very nice but I've always been too cheap to book it. The plus side is that we go to other hostels and get to see different places and have as much adventure
The Independent Hostel network is picking up some old YHA locations and offering a different way of getting out there
more like your middle class taking over the bloody place coming in to rough it for the weekend!
Middle classes not allowed in the countryside? Only the poor allowed? I think you are in that middle class bracket Rich even if you do regularly sleep rough but use good kit instead of an old newspaper.
YHA need to make hay so they can spread it over the rest of the year to cover the lean times
blatant profiteering at the expense of people that can only get away at school holiday time.
And have a read here about their blatant profiteering 🙂
https://www.yha.org.uk/yha-impact
and top tip, pick a quiet weekend, book a family en-suite and take the kids here.
https://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/ilam-hall
Real life stay in a castle and if you time it right it's bargain!
Really is just supply and demand. If they dropped their peak prices they'd need to raise off season prices, except they'd then be uncompetitive in the off season.
The only fix is to address the massive inconsistency in demand: i suspect that well over half their market is trying to travel in the same quarter of the year. Staggering half terms would go some way to improving this.
I'm married to a teacher and now have kids so have been on the receiving end of this for years but I don't begrudge the businesses who are simply responding to market forces. If you think they really are profiteering go and set up a business that undercuts them.
The thread title is pretty unfair to center parks , virtually any travel or holiday related activity goes up during school holidays and other prime times . It's known as supply and demand .
Rich - you are a tight fisted ****.
Love you,
Sparkle.
"And have a read here about their blatant profiteering "
I thought you had to win it in a raffle to be blatantly profiteering ...
and to complete the bingo on this one
why not swap the price tag with a term time one before you go to the checkout 😉
Hang on, is that £99 for the whole private room (sleeping four)? At Easter?
And how much were the dorm beds?
Friday and or Saturday at Easter? So two nights at most of the four day weekend which is, lets be fair, one of the busiest times of year for anywhere because everyone* is off work, not just kids and teachers.
Many places in the lakes esp. wouldn't even let you book for only one or both of those as it effectively writes off the room for the whole weekend.
*granted there are exceptions but they're comparatively few
I love Borrowdale YH, it's awesome. That is all.
I can understand a increase say £15 on top of the £35 but looking at the people using the YOUTH hostel 2 weeks ago it was more like your middle class taking over the bloody place coming in to rough it for the weekend!
How dare they. If I use the YHA I demand only uneducated scum are present.
"and to complete the bingo on this one
why not swap the price tag with a term time one before you go to the checkout "
Ouch, someone's got a long memory... 😉
1964 it ain’t.. You live in the 21st century, unless you do still live in 1964.
You can’t moan about an organisation that’s built on voluntary donations, help, assistance, ploughing the income received from renting accommodation back into the services they provide to the general public.
The middle classes, as has been put forward, during thier youth or tweens would have used the facilities and are merely returning to enjoy those olden days, and show thier offspring what a fabulous organisation the YHA are.
Open to all, pay a fair price to a place to sleep, help out if you like, enjoy the locations and most of all donate back into a system that caters for you.
Frankly pack in whining, your daughter ought to know the price of things let her decide what to do/where to go and see if she’ll pay for it herself.
Honeslty, you come across like life owes you and your offspring a living.
😤🤡
i used a YHA a couple of years ago in december, it was booked solid at weekends for at least a month
My guess is some firm has block booked everything for every weekend and sells it off at inflated prices somewhere
My guess is some firm has block booked everything for every weekend and sells it off at inflated prices somewhere
In true STW fashion, any evidence to back this up? If not you might as well be writing an article for the daily mail.
any evidence to back this up?
Yeah it was in a fancyha bears Facebook post with a lot of likes.
My guess is some firm has block booked everything for every weekend and sells it off at inflated prices somewhere
I got some date if your interested good price, PP Gift
Ha, I remember aged 16 being asked to sweep the members kitchen in Carlisle YHA. I looked indigantly at the brush he gave me, agreed, put the brush just inside the door and scarpered.
I can understand a increase say £15 on top of the £35
they probably need to charge at least 50 for that room to keep the hostel running and break even. But for most of the year they won't get anyone in and the hostel closes. When you stayed they made a loss but not as much a loss as having the room empty, but they need to charge more at peak times to offset that loss.
Those hostel using middle classes subsidise your holiday, next time you meet them you should buy them a pint.
We had an inset day on Monday and stayed in Losehill Hall, Castleton on Sunday, £35 for five-person room. Same room on a Saturday is £170. I consider the Sunday to be a bargain rather than the Saturday night price a rip-off. It's a fantastic place a great location, first time I've stayed in a Youth Hostel for about 20 years and we loved it. We'll do it again even at full price.
Coincidentally my eldest is away for her first big school trip to London and they stay in the YHA at Lee Valley which looks great.
Did I mention they pay the workers the minimum wage to 🙂 not enough outrage from fellow careful with the money brigade thats the problem these days apathy grin and bear the inflated prices for tickets to gigs yhas etc
My guess is some firm has block booked everything for every weekend and sells it off at inflated prices somewhere
In true STW fashion, any evidence to back this up? If not you might as well be writing an article for the daily mail.
No. all my own guesswork. Might be easier for all you guys in the know to prove otherwise
The Pemier Inns on the outskirts of the Lakes are far cheaper than that, and a hell of a lot nicer then a YHA. Albeit you aren't in such a 'lovely' location, but if you have transport that's no big deal.
Seems to me YHA are taking the p*ss with some of their pricing, but if people are still paying then they are going to get away with it. Like everything vote with your feet and stay elsewhere.
I'm pretty sure the YHA ethos was lost decades ago when Black Sail got electricity.
As someone else said though the YHA has a problem in connecting with it's principal aims/demographic.. that is helping youths get to see places. Private Dorms ?? etc. etc. All this is fine and dandy but the problem is only a few old wrinkles like me remember the "good ole day's" and the Millenial Snowflakes just want to have a room where you don't need to do chores.
I don't think that is the YHA's fault... any more than people think it's OK to own a bike and not be able to fix a puncture or do a lowers service. The millennial attitude seems to be you can pay someone less fortunate than yourself to do that.
No. all my own guesswork. Might be easier for all you guys in the know to prove otherwise
Ah, touché. I'll remember that one next time I make a completely baseless statement I can't back up :-).
Me: I just saw lord Lucan riding Shergar, racing the loch ness monster
Sceptical mate: Really? Any evidence?
Me: No, but if you are so clever, prove that I didn't.
🙂
and a hell of a lot nicer then a YHA.
Er, naw. There is no premier inn in the country that is nicer than Borrowdale YH at dusk, dawn or any bloody time.
I assume you no longer need your sheet sleeping bag then?
Do they still have the ink stamps you put in the back of your membership card?
Youth Hostels were once about sharing - work and dorms - and were accordingly cheap. If we (and i'm a regular customer) want private rooms, proper drying rooms, day long access, comfy lounges and draft ale, they will be more expensive, particularly if four bedded rooms get sold short with twos and threes (you quite often don't get charged the full four bed price). Yes it looks like blatent profiteering, but all profits are ploughed back in, and i'll take a higher price one day to benefit from a lower price on others. Most hostels are great places, lively, full of cranky bores the same as me; I can usually get to have a nice moan about something, like all the audis in the car park, and shout at some noisy middle class kids thundering around the dining room - probably mine. I'd far rather that than premier inn / Travelodge.